Despite her dire circumstances, Turner was an inspiration to her medical team.

"She
was filled with hope," said Karen Sovern, a bone marrow nurse who cared
for Turner. "She was filled with joy. She was filled with love, and it
helped carry everybody who was taking care of her through."

Turner's
situation meant she had a tough battle, and it would be even harder for
her because she is African-American. For African-Americans and other
people of color, it's harder to find a bone marrow match.

"The
likelihood of finding an African-American patient a donor is 60
percent," Islas said. "[It's] a little bit higher for Hispanics, it's
about 70 percent, and for Caucasians it's in the realm of 90 percent."

Turner waited for weeks, and she got worse.

Then, she got the news that changed her life: A perfect match had been found.

"It was a male and he was a senior in college, and that's all I knew," she said, speaking of her donor.

But when the time came to make the final preparations for her transplant, Turner was about to give up.

"I
was burned out. I was tired, I didn't want to go. I fussed, I fought,
I screamed. My husband said, 'Get back in bed, we'll just watch you
die,'" she said. "I jumped up. I said, 'I'm going to die. Ha! I'm going
to show you.'"

The transplant worked, and soon Turner was in remission.

But her journey wasn't complete. She hadn't met her donor.

"I've
never seen him. I've never heard his voice," she said, "but I'm just
so excited to look into his eyes, to look into his soul, and tell him,
'Thank you.'

"I just want him to know he is my hero," she said.

Turner got the chance to meet her donor, Christopher Magoon, for the first time today on "Good Morning America."

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"Christopher,
I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart with my whole
soul and my whole being," Turner said. "Thank you for giving me back to
my parents. Thank you for giving me back to my kids and to my
husband. I love you and there's nothing in this world that I would not
do for you because you did it for me. I love you. I love you."

Magoon was a student at Yale University when he joined the Be The Match Registry®
to see whether he was a match for Mandi Schwartz, a fellow student and
hockey player at Yale. Magoon was not a match and Schwartz later died.
But one year after having his cheek swabbed, Magoon got the call that he
was a match for Turner.

"I'd do it again in a second," he said of
being a donor. "It's really not that painful of a procedure. That's
one of the huge myths. Trust me, it's really not that bad. It's like
getting your wisdom teeth out. You're under. You wake up. People take
care of you because they know you're doing a good thing."

Turner was overcome with emotion thanking Magoon for what he did.

"This
young man, he didn't know me from a can of paint. He didn't know me. He
was so willing," she said. "I just can't find the words. He was just
so willing to give his life so that I can find mine."

Magoon, who
had communicated with Turner via email and Facebook while he was
overseas in China teaching English, told Turner that he had the easy
part of the transplant equation.

"You're the one who fought for
your family," he said. "I was asleep for the whole thing. I got to
watch TV for two days. You're the one who was sick and always believed
that you were going to get better. You did, and now you can provide
hope for people in similar situations across the country."

Signing up for the registry is the most important thing anyone can do, Magoon said.

"Even if you don't know anyone who is sick, you might later down the line," he said. "Get on the registry. Go to Bethematch.com and get the cheek swab. It's a simple procedure to get on the registry. That's the first step."